Ouran Hearts
by Penelope Jadewing
Summary: Nekozawa's incuse completes, and Haruhi and the gang are there to see it. In a dash to save him from the creature possessing him, they're dragged into the Abyss with him. Upon waking in the darkness, they find Nekozawa gone, and meet a girl of pure white, who seems to be their only way out of this... No yaoi. Probably HikaHaru, maybe a little LeoxHaruhi, & TamakixAlyss.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: So... Crossover. Yeah. Hopefully, it's not too bad... First OHSHC fanfic. O.o Hope I got the characters right. Reviews would be very appreciated!**

**~Penelope**

* * *

The entire school shuddered and writhed as ripples went out from a core somewhere within the halls, the lights flickered, and streams of dust fell from the ceiling. All occupants of the Third Music Room froze in their places, staring at the walls and ceiling tiles as if they held the answer to the suddenly projected, albeit unspoken question.

Then someone screamed.

All the girls then flew into a panic. Tamaki, along with the twins, went pale as a dead fish and looked to be deciding whether to try and calm the customers, or flee in terror along with them. Honey cowered behind a warrior-mode Mori, Kyouya swept a calculating gaze about the room with steely onyx eyes, and in the center of it all, Haruhi watched it all with wide eyes.

"What the heck was that?" she said to her fellow hosts even as Kyouya, among the only three in the room remaining calm, consoled the panicking girls and ushered them in an orderly fashion out of the room, pointing them down the hall toward the administrative offices.

"It sounded like someone was murdered!" Hikaru burst, sending Tamaki into further frenzy of fright (Haruhi snickered at herself).

"Murdered!?" the blond screeched, but the twins weren't done.

Kaoru tangled his fingers into his own auburn hair and took his brother's theory a step further. "During an earthquake!"

"Or a power surge!" Hikaru added. "Or maybe it's a bombing! Boss, it's World War III!"

Tamaki wailed, and dove under the table, which might've been a decent shelter if the building were actually caving in, and they were on the first floor… Haruhi saw the devilish smirks playing at the face of each twin, and glared at them. Really, now was not the time!

"Really, you guys are cruel," she stated, and then stood, moving for the door.

"Wait, Haruhi!" Tamaki called with distress, scrambling from his hiding place. "Where are you going!?"

"To see what's going on." She paused at the doors, glancing over her shoulder. "You guys coming?"

There was a moment of silence, and quite suddenly, Tamaki was at her side, with the twins and Honey and Mori not too far behind. Kyouya sighed, and joined them shortly.

"There's no way I can let my precious daughter go off on such a dangerous venture on her own!" Tamaki placed his hands on his hips with flourish, then pinched his chin between a thumb and forefinger. "In fact, Haruhi, I order you to stay here while we men go investigate!"

Haruhi gave him a dry look and before the twins could even say anything, made the point herself. "But if there's a murderer on the loose or something, wouldn't you prefer me stick with you? So you can…" She grimaced at the thought of saying it and boosting the senior's ego higher, but… "Protect me or whatever?"

Tamaki looked at Haruhi with momentary wonder, and then his eyes widened further with realization. "Of course! What was I thinking!? How could I even entertain the thought of leaving my precious child alone and vulnerable to the dangers that might be lurking in these darkened halls!?"

He might've continued in his soliloquy had Haruhi not brushed past him and continued into the hallway. Some of the lights had lost power, and others were still flickering. The halls seemed empty, suddenly vacant, and several classroom doors hung open, abandoned in the emergency exit of the building.

"Wait, Haruhi, don't go too far!" Tamaki hurried to keep up.

"Yeah, wait for us!" Gosh, those twins had a nasty habit; did they have to say _everything_ in unison?

Haruhi led the gang down the hall in the direction she thought she remembered the sound coming from; the utter silence of the school was a bit creepy, to say the least, but this was a mystery they were talking about, here. Something she'd only read about in books, or seen in movies. How cool was that?

"Takashi… This is scary," Honey muttered; Haruhi figured he probably thought no one else could hear him.

"Just you wait; we're gonna round one of these corners, and WHAM! A knife, straight through poor Haruhi's heart!" Hikaru whispered to Tamaki, nearly sending the senior into another state of panic.

Kaoru said, sounding equally concerned, "We could be next!"

"Gyah!" Tamaki grabbed Haruhi by the shoulder and pulled her to a halt, stepping in front of her to lead instead. "Haruhi, let me lead! If something happens, I'll be the one in the line of fire, if only that my daughter might be spare-"

Another explosion rocked the floor, sending most of them staggering, and this time, the lights surged with power. The electricity coursing through the walls hummed until it reached a terrifying crescendo in a matter of seconds, and then with several ominous pops, each and every light went out. In the center of the building, away from windows, they were plunged into darkness. Honey then took his turn to panic, and Haruhi could imagine him flailing around, taking a moment to cling to Mori, and then flailing some more.

She sighed, lifting a hand to rub her temple – after she found it, anyway. She could hardly see her own fingers in front of her face.

"I bet you Nekozawa-sempai has something to do with this," muttered Kaoru, and Haruhi could hear the deadpan in his expression. "Seems right up his alley; trying to get a good scare on the whole student population."

There was a click, and then – light! All eyes turned to Kyouya, who pointed the flashlight beam straight ahead, face impassive as always.

"Shall we go on?" he asked with a smile that was scarier than the shadows around them. Haruhi sweatdropped at the fact that he seemed to be totally at home with their new surroundings. Not to mention the terror-strung atmosphere that drenched them all, made their hair stand on end. And yet… there was something, something different that Haruhi could detect.

Kyouya-sempai was never surprised. Because usually, he saw things coming, or had orchestrated them himself. But this…

This was not planned.

Even Kyouya was scared; she could see it. And that unnerved her more than anything else. That meant that whatever this was, it was really bad.

Someone moaned in the darkness, and the lights flickered, briefly drowning out the flashlight's beam to let them see down the hall, where a dark figure hunched. Then, in a blink, it was dark again. Haruhi, glancing back at the boys, shuffled forward a few steps. "H-Hello?"

The lights flickered again. The figure had come a few feet closer; it wore a dark cloak, and seemed to be muttering to itself. Then the lights went out again.

"Nekozawa-sempai?" Haruhi called out, trying desperately to see through the darkness. But with the flashlight shining directly behind her, her eyes had no hope of adjusting any time soon.

"Told you it was him!" Kaoru ducked behind his twin and reemerged at the center of the group, using everyone else as a shield. "He's trying to freak us out!"

"And it's working!" Hikaru chimed in, swallowing impulsively.

"I-It s-sounds l-like h-he's… h-he's…"

Haruhi finished what Honey was trying to say. "It sounds like he's hurt; listen to him!"

In the shadows, there came the shuffle of feet, and something wet dripping onto the tile. Someone coughed, and uttered something indecipherable.

"He could be acting just to scare us, the dastardly fiend!" Tamaki huddled behind Haruhi for protection. "Every self-respecting student of Ouran Academy is adept at the skill!"

"Yeah, look at us for example!" the twins chimed. Haruhi gave them all an unimpressed glance.

"You guys are horrible actors; what are you talking about?"

Tamaki dropped into his characteristic sulking crouch, but didn't dare distance himself from the group to find a wall to face. Haruhi rolled her eyes and started to speak, but stopped when the floor shuddered once more.

"You said you wanted to change the past," rumbled an ethereal voice.

Tamaki shrieked along with the twins, and the three gathered everyone in a group and hid between them all. Haruhi looked to Kyouya to gauge the situation, and at the paleness of his face and the white in his eyes, knew they were in real trouble.

Nekozawa-sempai – for now, they were 95% sure it was him – cried out, and they heard the thud of something heavy falling to the ground. Kyouya aimed the beam in the direction of the sound. Finally, they saw the dark-clad form of their fellow classman, curled in a fetal position on the floor. A circle of blacklight shone about him in intricate designs that danced and spun. Tendrils of black mist rose up from its edges.

This wasn't a game anymore.

"What the heck is that!?" Hikaru pointed a rigid finger just over Nekozawa's huddled figure, at the same moment that Honey-sempai wailed in fright.

A disembodied face floated above in the darkness, consisting only of a pair of endless blood-red eyes, and a maw of pointed teeth stretched in an impossible grin – a Cheshire grin. And that, Haruhi realized with horror, was where the voice was coming from.

"Are you ready, human!?" the thing bellowed, cackling as the circle under Nekozawa grew larger to encompass his form. "Prepare to have your chance!"

"It's a demon from the underworld! Come for vengeance upon Nekozawa and all his kin!" Tamaki monologued, but Haruhi had already darted forward at a sprint.

"Nekozawa-sempai!" she yelled, running for the young man.

"Haru-chan!" Honey screamed after her, and she heard six pairs of footsteps following after her.

Just then, Nekozawa lifted himself up onto his knees, and clawed at his chest, screaming in agony. His hood fell back as an unearthly wind whipped through the corridor and took the black wig along with it, making the cloak billow. He screamed and screamed, and Haruhi trembled at the sound; the creature-thing, whatever it was, was laughing. The blacklight spun and rose to swallow Nekozawa up just as Haruhi reached him, stepping into the ever-widening circle. The twins – she could tell because they both grabbed her simultaneously – latched onto her arms, and Tamaki put a hand on her shoulder. Then the ground lurched, and all of them tumbled in a heap to the floor beside Nekozawa.

"Tama-chan, Haru-chan, Kao and Hika-chan!" Honey cried, diving after them.

Wait… diving? Haruhi looked closer, and realized that the circle was… sinking.

Mori jumped in after Honey, which left just Kyouya standing back at the edge of the deepening hole.

"Kyouya!" Tamaki shouted, abandoning games; his voice echoed in the new darkness, deeper and colder than the shadows of the hallway.

Kyouya stared after them, looking rightly enough in shock. Then the giant face above him growled, sounding like a cat snarling into a microphone. A large appendage swooped down from nowhere.

"Kyouya-sempai!" Haruhi screamed just as what looked like a shadowy black paw smashed the ground where Kyouya had been standing. Before the flashlight flickered out, overcome by the inky blackness, she spotted him land on his feet beside Mori, and then all went dark as the hole closed up behind them. All was silent a moment.

Haruhi took a deep, shuddering breath. That was more terrifying than anything she could have ever imagined; worse than a thunderstorm, way, way, WAY worse! "Guys… Are you-"

Her words morphed into screams as the floor dropped out from under them, and they were all plunged into freefall. The screams of the others joined hers, and for several horrific moments, they continued to fall through an endless sea of nothingness.

Then, out of nowhere, a black and white tile floor appeared. Haruhi barely had time to register its materialization before she crashed into it.

_Ouran~*~Pandora_

"Haruhi?"

Someone shook her shoulder; her head pounded. Was someone talking to her? But sleep… such sweet sleep…

"Haru-chan?" That person sniffed, whimpering.

Oh, her head hurt so bad… Why? Why did it… "Ungh…" she moaned, shifting to bury her face in her hand. "What…?"

A relieved sigh, and someone's presence drew away from her. "Oh, good; you're alive!"

That voice… she knew it. Yeah, one of the… Kaoru! She sat up with a jolt, and suddenly, blood flooded to her head and stars whirled and she laid right back down again. "Ohhh…"

The twins, Tamaki, Kyouya… Nekozawa! They'd all been sucked down some kind of black hole!

Kaoru put a hand to her shoulder, holding her still while Honey stood behind him, hugging his usa-chan close. "Hey, easy does it; you probably have a concussion, judging by that." He waved a finger toward her forehead, where she could feel sticky liquid staining her hair.

"Oh, great," she muttered, glancing at her hand to discover it also had red fluid staining it. Sighing, she tried to glance sidelong behind Kaoru – who sported a nasty bruise of his own on his cheekbone and chin – and past Honey, who didn't look like he had a scratch at all. "What… What about everyone else?"

Kaoru glanced behind him. "We're all pretty banged up… Surprisingly, no broken bones. I think… Tamaki's been awake for a while, and Mori…"

"But Kyo-chan and Hika-chan won't wake up!" Honey sniffled, hiccupping out of fear.

Kaoru looked somber – more somber than Haruhi had ever seen him before. He closed his cat-like eyes. "Kyouya moved a couple of times… Doesn't seem to be sporting too many wounds; he probably had a lucky landing. Hikaru i-is breathing pretty shallow… and there's blood coming from his ear."

Haruhi stared up at him. "…That's not good."

"Yeah, I know," the younger twin quipped with a sharp gaze that he immediately looked remorseful for. "Sorry…"

Haruhi tactfully remained silent. Kaoru, continuing, sighed.

"It's just… how did this happen, anyway?" He looked back over his shoulder. Haruhi, following his gaze, caught sight of Tamaki with his knees hugged to his chest, and Mori with one elbow propped on a knee, head hung low. Behind Tamaki, she could just barely spot a prone figure, by the size of which she guessed it to be Kyouya; just behind Kaoru and Honey, Haruhi could see a deathly-still Hikaru. She gulped.

"It's like something out of some horror/sci-fi movie…" Kaoru trailed off, looking down at his brother's form behind him. Haruhi felt a stab of sympathy for him; he had to be worried sick about his brother.

"Haru-chan, where are we?" Honey whimpered, trembling as he shuffled back toward Mori, obviously needing a protective presence.

Haruhi then took the moment to examine their surroundings… what little surroundings there were. All she could see was an extent of tile floor that then disappeared into nothing but black… Like they were on some kind of freakish island in the middle of a vacuum.

Her eyes went wide. "Nekozawa-sempai! Where is he?"

Honey shuddered, huddling beside Mori, while Kaoru leveled a solemn stare at her.

"He was gone. Poof; just like that. Disappeared. Must've happened while we were all out."

"Did you try looking around?" she asked, glancing into the blackness.

Kaoru nodded. "Yeah. Gave me the creeps."

She waited a moment for him to continue, and when he didn't, she frowned. "Well? What was out there?"

The young Hitachiin gave her a strange look that bordered somewhere between terror and disgust. He waited a long moment before he finally answered. "…A giant screwed up toy box."

She stared at him with a blank look. …He couldn't be serious.

Could he?

"A… what?" she asked, wondering if she'd been hearing wrong.

"I said," he repeated, slightly annoyed, "a giant, screwed up, broken, scattered toy box. As in, giant floating dolls with missing eyes and ratty hair, cracked blocks, raggedy old rocking horses, you name it! It's all out there. Just… floating."

She choked on her own breath, and winced at the ache in her head. "What… What sort of weird place have we ended up in?"

"It's Hell, I tell you." Everyone glanced over to Tamaki, who sounded amazingly serious as well. This wasn't just another one of his usual rants… "Nekozawa's final judgment came to claim him, and we were dragged along with him to the depths of the abyss!"

"Eh… I don't think it works that way, Boss," Kaoru said quietly, a little confused by the quirk of his amber brow.

Tamaki shook his head. "What other explanation is there, Kaoru? What other place could be so… dark. Cold… Alone."

Haruhi had to admit, Tamaki was right in that sense. Even with six other people around her, she felt a sense of loneliness that almost crushed her. A sense of utter isolation that enveloped them all like an endless sea… She shivered, staring into the darkness.

"Ngh…"

"Kyouya!" Tamaki and Kaoru said at the same time, and Haruhi craned her neck to see the Ootori heir lifting himself to his hands and knees, holding his head in one palm.

"What…" Kyouya muttered, but Kaoru cut him off.

"We don't know. You just missed that whole conversation."

"Kyo-chan, are you okay?" Honey squeaked as the vice president pushed himself up to a sitting position with a groan. Onyx eyes blinked, a tad disoriented, and then glanced to them; Tamaki glanced around, and then snatched up the pair of glasses from the floor. They were amazingly unscathed. Tamaki handed them to their owner.

"Here…"

The landscape suddenly shifted and warped. Honey clung to Mori-sempai, Tamaki tumbled to the floor, Kyouya grimaced, and Haruhi groaned as her head throbbed. Out of the darkness materialized a girly room, covered in shelves that were full of dolls – dolls like Kaoru described, missing eyes and ratty, short-cropped hair, and stained dresses. A door shrouded in curtains loomed to their right, leading into that same deep, eternal darkness.

Then, a bare foot stepped out, followed by a young girl clad in a white dress, with hair that cascaded down past her waist and glowed a pure pearl white. Lavender eyes stared at them with curiosity, and then she smiled, giggling a sound like wind chimes.

"Hello, there! Who might you be?"


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Sorry it took so long to update! It's been a crazy July, and August has started off just as busy. I've also been trying to get one of my own novels ready for a contest, so I've been otherwise occupied. I hope the wait is worth it for you guys. :) I'm enjoying writing this.**

**~Penelope**

* * *

The girl bounded toward them, face alight with glee as she giggled. "Everyone! Everyone, we have guests! Guests!"

The dolls came to life. They twitched, and then took to the air above their heads, flying like so many old-fashioned witches on broomsticks (without the broomsticks). Honey stifled a shriek and hid behind Mori, while the rest of them could only stare in horror. The dolls cackled and tittered, and Haruhi couldn't believe her eyes. Was all this for real?

_"Guests! Guests!" _the dolls cried, _"Alice* loves guests!"_

_"Doesn't get them very often! No!"_

_"Never gets them!"_

_"Because nobody loves her – not like we do."_

The girl called Alice continued twirling circles around the group of them. She pounced on Kyouya first.

"Such wonderful guests!" With a delicate pale finger, she lifted the Ootori's chin. "So many handsome gentlemen! Oh, do stay, stay for tea! Stay forever and play!"

Alice laughed and bounced to Tamaki, leaning her head upside down to intrude into his little bubble of gloom. Tamaki sucked in a sharp breath and tried to distance himself, to no avail. "Then we can all be best friends!"

Haruhi watched as the dolls swooped down, first over her, and then over Hikaru, and shrieked.

_"Wounded! Wounded, they are wounded, Alice! Blood!"_

In an instant, Alice leaped over Kaoru and kneeled over Haruhi, purple eyes wide with wonder. Haruhi stared at her with a level gaze. This person… who on earth was she?

"Who are you?" Kaoru snapped, speaking Haruhi's thoughts aloud. Alice promptly ignored him.

The white-haired girl clutched her hands close to her chest, looking down on Haruhi like a mother would her child. "Oh, poor girl… Poor little girl, such a nasty scratch on that pretty little head! That's no good at all!" Alice reached down a trembling hand, and Haruhi tried not to gulp as her ghastly fingers laced into her hair, curling into a fist. Alice leaned in close. "But I can't help you… Perhaps you'll bleed out… Perhaps you'll die; how scrumptious!"

Kaoru laid a hand on the strange girl's arm, pulling her up and turning her to face him with a resolute glare. "I said-"

Alice screamed, loud and shrill, upon looking into Kaoru's stern expression, and the dolls swarmed over their heads, bickering and shouting and screaming like little demons. Haruhi tried to sit up, only to fall back on her elbows as the entire room spun on its axis. A blur of black swept past the clashing pair, leaving only Alice behind as Kaoru was tackled to the side. With a giant black hand tapered with long ivory claws around his throat, Kaoru struggled under the weight of a humanoid cat, while Tamaki and Mori jumped to their feet.

"Kao-chan!" Honey cried. From under a shaggy black mop and pointed ears, a red left eye peered down at the younger twin. The creature cocked its head, with a dead look on his face.

"Nya… Nobody scares Alice," it muttered, tightening its fist around Kaoru's neck and making him gag as he gasped for breath he couldn't get. "It's Cheshire's job to make sure of that, nya. Nobody… hurts… Alice."

"USA-KICK!"

Haruhi turned just in time to see Mori miss catching Honey before he took a flying leap at the creature that had referred to itself as 'Cheshire'. Honey's skills might've been legendary, but even as it happened in a matter of seconds, Haruhi knew it wouldn't be enough.

Cheshire, agile as any cat, kept one hand around Kaoru's throat, at the same time twisting to the side and lashing out with its other massive paw, talons gleaming. Honey, in mid-flight, had no chance to stop before the counterweight knocked him from his trajectory, reducing his deadly kick to a rolling stop on the tile floor, and bloody failure. Mori yelled, jumped forward toward the creature.

"Mori-sempai, don't!" Haruhi said before she could stop herself, and she breathed a sigh of relief when he hesitated.

Then, Cheshire swung a powerful arm and slung Kaoru at them as if he were nothing more than a doll. Tamaki managed to break the landing, which resulted in both of them landing in a heap on the floor. While they recovered, and Mori darted over to Honey, Cheshire wailed, an unearthly sound that made Haruhi's ears throb.

"Nobody hurts Alice!" it screamed, clenching its claws to leave ruts in the tile.

"ENOUGH!"

All eyes swiveled to Alice, who stood at the center, face flushed with rage. She stood as intimidating as a little girl could, fists clenched, hair flying, eyes on fire. "Stop it, stop it! No more fighting! Cheshire, bad boy! How dare you attack our guests!"

Haruhi glanced between her and the cat, who now cowered into himself, slinking along toward the wall like the feline he was. "But… Alice…"

"No! You've been naughty; go to your bed!"

Not needing to be told twice, Cheshire stalked over to a massive cushion pile along the wall, and sunk into its embrace, folding his paws and glaring over the top of his hand at the humans. He felt as if they had intruded, Haruhi realized, not to mention threaten his master… As if he were Alice's pet or something.

The massive grandfather clock on the farthest wall suddenly chimed, its toll making the room shudder and its hands winding like mad on its face. Alice looked up at it, and a wild grin overtook her face. She threw her hands in the air and spun around with a squeal of delight.

"It's tea-time! Ooh, tea time with guests! How exciting!" She bounded up to Tamaki, grabbing him by the hands and spinning around with him before pointing a finger up at her dolls. "Get everything ready! I want it to be perfect!"

Haruhi looked to Tamaki, gauging his expression. He was staring at Alice, face pale, with wide eyes. Obviously, the shock had yet to wear off.

"Why is Alice having tea with humans?" Cheshire mumbled from his corner, and the dolls went into a cackling frenzy.

_"Humans! Humans, Cheshire hates humans!"_

_"Humans like Vincent!"_

_"Hates Vincent!"_

_"Nasty boy!"_

_"Humans hurt Alice; hurt Alice like the Knight did!"_

_"Gave her empty promises!"_

"Silence!" Alice shrieked, and the dolls all blew sideways. Tamaki, Mori, and the recovering Kaoru tumbled to the floor as the room shook. Haruhi closed her eyes, trying to still the aching of her head. "Don't talk about him! I don't ever want to hear about him again! It's his fault, his fault, his fault! I hate him! Hate, hate him! He-"

"Princess…"

Haruhi sighed, grimacing and not because of the headache.

Tamaki had recovered.

If there was one thing he couldn't resist, it was damsels in distress, no matter who they were. And he was a sucker for sob stories.

Alice turned to him in awe, stunned silent. Haruhi raised an eyebrow.

Tamaki was picking himself off the floor, eyes downcast before he slowly lifted his head to look up at the girl with watery eyes.

_Those can't be real tears! Not when she could kill him or sic her cat on him at any second. Man, he's a better actor than I give him credit for…_

"Who is this person… This person who's broken your heart so mercilessly?" He kept his voice soft, low. It seemed to calm the beast that was this Alice girl.

Alice's lip quivered. "…He… He promised me! He promised he would help me! It's been so long, and he never came for me! What kind of a knight would do that!? I hate this, I hate him!" A sob escaped her with her last word, and she hiccupped before she began to cry. Haruhi was beginning to be concerned on a number of levels as far as this moody being's sanity went. Then again, when Alice lived in a place like this, it shouldn't have surprised her.

Regaining his usual charm back quickly now, Tamaki – having risen to his feet – spread his arms out in invitation, and Alice practically tackled him, sobbing against his chest. Haruhi felt the urge to groan at the sappy scene straight out of a high school drama, but resisted, knowing any slight disturbance could tip the scales of Alice's wrath against her.

"Nobody wants to stay with me!" the Alice girl wailed.

Haruhi tried once more to sit up, and felt a pair of arms support her this time. She glanced up at Kaoru's rather unimpressed expression.

"Since when did this turn into another day at the Host Club?" he muttered wryly. She actually found it in her to quirk a small smile. It felt so weird, smiling in a place like this…

"Every day is a day at the Host Club when Tamaki-sempai is concerned," she replied quietly, and succeeded in making Kaoru snicker.

"Surely a girl as adorable as you is skilled at enrapturing friends?" said Tamaki, who Haruhi deduced was obviously a good liar when he wanted to be.

Alice shook her head, balling her fists in the collar of Tamaki's blazer. "There's no one here to make friends with! No one, no one but Chains! No one to make friends with!"

Haruhi noticed that the Cheshire thing looked decidedly irritated. His precious mistress didn't consider him her friend.

"You mean there's nobody else here!?" Honey-sempai squeaked again, making Alice open her eyes and glance over her shoulder at him. This, of course, sent Honey right back to cowering behind his fellow senior.

"There's gotta be some way out of here," said a skeptical Kaoru with a cocked eyebrow.

Alice sniffled, and shook her head, white hair swinging about her shoulders like some kind of old fashioned cloak. "Only the Chains can get out… They make contracts with the humans. And then they get to go out."

"What about you?" Tamaki said softly. "Surely, if these Chains can get out that way, then you should be able to get out as well."

Alice stared at him with wide eyes. "You mean… make a contract?"

"If that's how the Chains get out."

Haruhi watched as awe saturated the pearly girl, and then a manic grin spread over her face. Haruhi swore she saw Tamaki pale a bit.

"A… contract," said Alice, smiling so much like the cat that her humanoid pet was named after. "A contract! Oh, a contract! Why have I never thought of that before!? Oh, this is wonderful!" She pulled away from her self-appointed guardian, and twirled around the room, laughing without control. "A CONTRACT! I CAN MAKE A CONTRACT!"

Suddenly, she halted, and looked at everyone in the room, innocent as a little girl. "But with who?"

Cheshire leapt to his feet. "But mistress-!"

"Be quiet, Cheshire!" Her pale face turned almost predatory as she eyed the young men surrounding her. "Who should I choose? Which of these noble gentlemen is brave enough to form a contract with me?"

No one moved. No one even breathed. Haruhi noted that, thankfully, Alice had not looked to her. She was eyeing up Tamaki, Kaoru, and Kyouya, mostly.

"If it pleases you, my princess," said Tamaki. Haruhi could see his hands shaking from where she sat supported by Kaoru, but he put on a brave face. "I will form this contract with you."

Haruhi raised her eyebrows. She didn't think Tamaki had it in him.

Alice squeaked with glee, and practically tackled Tamaki with a hug. "My true knight has come to rescue me!" Then she jumped back, and snatched one of the tea cups floating around above their heads. Rather abruptly, she smashed it onto the ground, sending shards of porcelain flying in all directions. Taking one of the larger pieces, she slit her palm, licked the wound (_yuck_, Haruhi grimaced), and then did something Haruhi would never be able to forget.

She clasped Tamaki's face in her hands, and kissed him full on the mouth.

Everyone stared with wide eyes, and Tamaki turned beet red.

Then the ground shook. The air shook, the dolls screamed and cowered on their shelves, Cheshire wailed. Alice released Tamaki, and then bounded to the center of the room, laughing like a mad woman. She spread her arms toward the ceiling, just as a massive crack appeared, and light bright as the sun burst through, blinding them all.

Haruhi watched as the horrified look on Tamaki's face turned to one of pain, and that was the last thing she remembered seeing before she woke on a soft, carpeted floor. Someone, a blur of black and red and pale skin, loomed over her before leaning back.

"Elliot! Get over here! And bring some help, quick!" said a male voice.

_"What the heck are you blabbing on about?"_

"Just shut up and do it!"

_Ugh, my head… _She just wanted to sleep…

* * *

***_Orally, 'Alyss' is going to sound like 'Alice'. So, to the Host Club, they think Alyss' name is Alice. Until someone tells them otherwise, Alyss with be called Alice. :) Make sense? Reviews are muchly appreciated! 3_**


	3. Chapter 3

Kaoru lounged in the overstuffed recliner that wasn't really a recliner placed in front of the fireplace. The old fashioned fireplace.

This was so wrong.

The old fashioned fireplace that let smoke out through a brick chimney. The old fashioned fireplace that nestled in the wall of the very old fashioned bedchambers – it felt weird calling it a bedroom – with an old fashioned wardrobe on one wall, an old fashioned tea table, and old fashioned bookcase, and an old fashioned bed surrounded by old fashioned bed curtains.

The only thing in there that wasn't old fashioned was the girl unconscious under the blankets.

He stared a moment at Haruhi, looking innocent, childlike, and much more like the girl she was in her sleep. Then he sighed.

So very wrong.

This kind of thing only happened in movies. It wasn't supposed to actually happen in places like, well, reality.

Haruhi groaned.

Kaoru was on his feet, heading for the door. He cracked it open, and stuck his head out into the hallway. "Hey, Leo, come back! She's waking up!"

The shaggy-haired, bespectacled boy had recognized Haruhi's gender right off… somehow. Maybe people were smarter in ye olden days? Funnily enough, Kaoru had almost taken Leo, the poor kid, for a girl on first glance.

Yeah, people were probably smarter back when. Er… now. Er… however wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey stuff worked.

Kaoru ducked back into the room after seeing the noire stop and turn around, and he made his way back to the bedside.

"Hey, Haruhi, wake up."

It was bad enough that Hikaru had yet to wake up, the others were nowhere to be found, and Kaoru had had only strangers to talk to for two days straight. Haruhi _had _to wake up. She just had to!

He was bored. And scared. But of course, he'd never admit to the latter.

Her face screwed into a grimace. While her head wound had been bandaged up and had already started to heal, it probably still hurt like heck. Kneeling beside the bed, Kaoru rested his arms atop the blankets and put his chin on the back of his hand.

"Come on, Haruhi…"

Leo came in quietly. Kaoru glanced over in time to see a maid pass by the room before Leo shut the door.

They'd landed in a mansion, apparently home to a French duke. Perhaps the only upside, it was familiar. Kaoru had to admit to that.

But he'd still much rather be home. With his brother, safe and sound.

What were his parents thinking? Two days; they were probably worried sick. All of their families were, more than likely.

Would they ever get home?

"K… Kaoru?"

She could still tell which twin was which, even after forty-eight hours of unconsciousness. He brightened considerably, head perking up as he focused to see Haruhi's big brown eyes trained on him. He offered her a small smile.

"Welcome back, Sleeping Beauty. How're you feeling?"

"Like I got hit with a baseball bat."

"You had a concussion," said Leo, standing at the foot of the bed. He also smiled welcomingly at the bedridden girl. "We fixed you up as best we could, but I'm afraid it might hurt for a while."

Haruhi stared at him with wide eyes. "…And you are?"

Haruhi, the blunt one. Kaoru chuckled. At least that would never change.

"My name is Leo. I'm a servant in the Nightray house. Which is where you are. Or where you've been for two days, I should say."

She sat up with a jerk, and Kaoru had barely reached out to steady her before she flopped back, holding her head. "T-Two days? Did you say two days?"

Leo cocked his head. Kaoru had an inkling that it was a replacement for raising an eyebrow, since no one on the outside could see his eyes past his round, Harry Potter style glasses. "Yes… Two days ago, we found you and your two friends in front of the Nightray Gate."

"We?"

Leo nodded. "My master, Elliot, and I."

"Well, that's just – did you say 'two' friends?"

Kaoru guessed Leo frowned; it was so hard to tell his expressions clearly through all that hair… "I must be speaking too quietly…" The servant sighed. "Yes, two friends. Twins. Redheads. Kaoru woke up within minutes of us finding him, but Hikaru is still unconscious."

Haruhi turned to Kaoru, and behind the logical mask, he could see panic. "Where are the others? Tamaki-sempai? Kyouya-sempai?"

Kaoru shook his head. "They aren't here, Haruhi. I don't know where they are."

"But Alice said… Ugh…" She leaned into the pillows. "I don't get it."

"Alice?" Leo looked confused, but shook his head. "Pandora is going to want to speak with you – all three of you."

"Pandora?" Kaoru had been given a brief explanation; all he really knew was that it was like some kind of secret service that studied the Abyss – the creepy toy box where the whole Host Club had ended up. "Why?"

"They'll want to know what you saw, and everything that happened. They're always on the lookout for new information." Leo adjusted his glasses, briefly reminding Kaoru of Kyouya. Just as he was about to speak again, there was a knock on the door, to which he turned. "Come in."

The same maid Kaoru had spotted earlier came through the door with a tea cart.

"I had some peppermint tea brought; if anything, the steam should help with the pain." Leo stepped back to allow the maid to go about her business of serving Haruhi a cup of hot tea. Kaoru stepped away as well, giving his friend her space.

All so wrong…

"Leo!? Where the **** did you run off to!?"

Kaoru cast the open door a glance, as did Haruhi. Haruhi spoke first.

"Who was that?"

Leo smirked. "That would be my master."

Kaoru caught the look Leo threw him, and gave a Cheshire grin. Wait, no! Not a Cheshire grin… Just a big grin; he could never think the name Cheshire the same way again… He sidled up beside the door, pressing his back against the wall as he heard Elliot's footsteps coming closer. He saw the shadow first, and then stuck his foot into the doorway. The weight of a solid step caught on his ankle, and suddenly, Elliot Nightray flailed into the room, sprawling onto his hands and knees. Hey, at least he'd had the reflexes to catch himself rather than flopping on his face like some people.

That didn't necessarily make him any happier about being tripped, though. Kaoru darted back over to the recliner (that wasn't a recliner) before the sandy-blond had recovered. When he did, he climbed back to his feet with a clenched jaw and fiery cobalt eyes that coulda scared the crud out of ol' Kasanoda. Elliot pointed a rigid finger right where he was slumped in the chair sideways.

"YOU!"

Kaoru inwardly smirked, but blinked like an owl, feigning innocence. "Eh? Me?"

"Yes, you, you little demon ****!" Elliot raged, and Kaoru snickered at the mental image of a red-eyed bull snorting smoke out its flaring nostrils. But it wasn't so funny when Elliot stormed over and grabbed his collar, pulling a fist back.

Kaoru held up his hands in front of him. "Hey, you can't beat on royalty! And especially-"

"**** you; I'm sick and tired of tolerating your sorry arrogant *** and I'm not gonna-!"

"Elliot."

The owner of the name turned to the speaker, which happened to be Leo, who had a neutral expression on his face. "You shouldn't talk like that in front of a girl, not to mention a guest."

Elliot's blue gaze was drawn to the bed, where Haruhi sat staring at him wide-eyed. An appropriate blush darkened his face, and he let go of Kaoru's collar and dropped his arm to his side, smoothing his waistcoat (they wore waistcoats here!) with his other hand. He cleared his throat.

"…Sorry."

Haruhi stared a moment longer before blurting out what was obviously the first thing to come to her mind.

"Kaoru's not royalty."

Kaoru sweatdropped. He was beginning to wonder whether or not blunt honesty was a positive trait… And with the 'I am going to rip your smug little face off' look that Elliot shot him, Kaoru had a feeling it wasn't. He gulped, jumping behind the recliner to hide. Deep down, though, he found it reassuring to be able to poke fun at people like this, as if nothing was wrong, as if he wasn't stuck in a mansion who-knows-where who-knows-when. The only thing that was missing was… well…

_Hikaru, bro, why won't you wake up?_

Elliot swallowed as well, but probably to keep from exploding. "He… isn't?"

Haruhi shook her head, as if the new boy in front of her wasn't silently plotting to kill her good friend, dear Kaoru.

_Haruhi, shush! I rather like being conscious, thanks!_

"No, he's not. Not at all."

_Put on a face._ "Hey, we're the royalty of the fashion world!" he said with flair. "That counts for something. And I woulda said _anything _to get you to stop pushing me around like I was some kind of servant."

Elliot gritted his teeth, and Kaoru swore he heard it. "You rotten little-!"

"Don't finish that sentence," Leo deadpanned, and Elliot went rigid, clenching his fists, but managing to hold it all in. Kaoru wondered how good that was for the kid's health.

_I really shouldn't be thinking of them as kids… They're my age._

Oh well. Made him feel more mature.

"What made you believe a story like that?" Haruhi glanced between Elliot and Leo.

Leo answered. "He said that the crest on your jackets was a family crest – something about it being the seal of King Tono of Ouran, a new province of Japan in the future."

Kaoru chuckled sheepishly. "Or something…"

Haruhi didn't look impressed. Then again, when did she? She gave Kaoru a deadpan look.

"Of course he did." She sighed. "Really, Kaoru…"

"It's not my fault," he said as nonchalantly as was possible with Elliot glaring daggers at his face. "Blame him; if I hadn't done something, he woulda had me scrubbing the kitchen or something."

"You're guests in my house, you ungrateful rat!" Elliot declared, head vein pulsing. "I'm not so uncultured that I'd order a perfect stranger – with injuries, I might add – to do any such thing!"

"Oh, so you're saying you're only slightly uncultured?" Kaoru quipped, and grinned at the expression of shocked fury on Elliot's face. He had to wonder just how far anyone could push this rage machine before he finally self-destructed… "I didn't know you guys; I had no idea where we were. I came up with a temporary protection method; you didn't really give me another option... You couldn't expect me to trust you right off the bat."

He ducked behind the chair as a book came flying at his face.

"Elliot, why did you come here?" Leo asked, unimpressed expression matching Haruhi's. "It couldn't have been to have your daily blood-pressure spike via your newly-acclaimed nemesis."

Kaoru snorted.

Elliot grumbled, before answering Leo, not sounding happy about letting Kaoru win. "The other one woke up for a second while I was in there looking for a book…" He suddenly pointed accusingly at Leo. "You need to stop leaving my books everywhere but where they belong, which is in _my _room!"

Kaoru had only really heard the first part, though. He stood straight, antics forgotten. "Hikaru woke up?"

Elliot looked at him begrudgingly. "For a second, yeah. Then he was out again."

Kaoru shared a look with Haruhi. He knew that she really shouldn't be up and around quite yet, but he knew what she was gonna do before she did it. So he went around the chair, and up to the bed just as she swiveled her feet off the edge.

"I don't think you should be moving around yet, Haruhi," said Leo. Kaoru had told him her name a day ago, along with advising him not to call her 'miss'. But Haruhi just stood up anyway. She wobbled a little, but that was what Kaoru was for. He let her lean on him.

"I'm going to see my friend," she said with resolution. "I'm going to see if he's all right."

Then Elliot and Leo shared a glance, and Leo let out a slow breath, but nodded. "Okay. Follow us."

"Us?" Elliot grumbled.

"Yes, us," Leo snapped. "You're coming, too."

Kaoru rolled his eyes and tuned them out as they began to quietly bicker as they led the way out of Haruhi's room and to the left, down the hallway. He continued to support the girl when she needed it, which she did for a while until she seemed to catch her bearings a bit more. She was quiet, and Kaoru had the feeling that she was trying to make sense of everything.

He'd sorta given up on trying after an hour or two on the first day.

They actually hadn't walked very far at all before the two ahead stopped and went through a door on the right side of the hall. Kaoru followed. Leo held the door open for Haruhi, and then closed it once everyone was inside.

The room looked pretty similar to Haruhi's, but it was a different color, and slightly rearranged, with bigger windows. That and, of course, the figure lying prone in the bed was Kaoru's own twin rather than their favorite little toy.

Hikaru had no reason to be asleep, or so Leo said. The color had come back to his face, he'd stopped bleeding, he was breathing normally. Everything seemed fine. No one could understand why he hadn't woken up yet. And that had Kaoru more worried than ever.

Kaoru helped Haruhi to the bedside while Leo opened the curtains to let the sunlight in. In the bright midday light that streamed in, Hikaru looked simply like he was sleeping. As if he were back in his bedroom, and everything was normal.

Kaoru sighed, and retook his position kneeling beside the bed and propping his chin on his hands, while Haruhi sat at the foot of the bed. At the shift of weight, Hikaru stirred, his eyes fluttering. Kaoru went rigid, while Haruhi leaned forward.

"Hikaru?"

"H…Haruhi?" whispered the other twin.

_Why is it always a name that they say first? _Kaoru shook the thought away. He saw Hikaru's hand shift, rolling over with the palm to the ceiling, searching. Kaoru gripped his twin's hand firmly.

"Yeah, it's me," said Haruhi, scooting closer.

Hikaru's eyes cracked open, looking first at Kaoru, then at Haruhi. He coughed slightly, making Kaoru frown.

"Come closer," Hikaru rasped. Looking concerned, Haruhi did as he asked.

"Closer."

Kaoru had to make room for her as Hikaru beckoned her to the head of the bed, until she leaned in to hear what he said next. A soft smile played at the older Hitachiin's lips as he reached up toward Haruhi's face.

"You said… we were bad actors… In what context?"

"EH!?" was the general consensus around the room. Haruhi erupted in rage, snatching the pillow out from under Hikaru's head to whack him, and Kaoru joined her. They both chewed him to bits for pulling a stunt like that, while taking turns beating him with the pillow.

But… Hikaru was back. And while Kaoru would never forgive him for doing something like that (okay, maybe he would, but he wasn't about to tell Hikaru that), he was awake. He was okay. One would be three again. And together, they'd find the others; eventually, maybe they'd even find their way home. Maybe they wouldn't… but Kaoru couldn't let himself entertain that thought. Overall… everything would be okay.

Then another earthquake hit.


End file.
